Jordan Ends Uranium Deal with France Nuclear Giant

AMMAN — Jordan said on Tuesday it had terminated a uranium mining licence for a joint venture between Areva and a local firm, but the French nuclear giant insisted the agreement was only covering exploration.

“The licence for the Jordanian French Uranium Mining Company (JFUMC) to mine for uranium in central Jordan is now void,” the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission said in a statement carried by state-run Petra news agency.

“With this decision, the mining agreement has been terminated by mutual consent of all parties to the agreement without any liability on any of the parties involved in the mining agreement.”

The commission said JFUMC had “failed to submit its report on time.”

The joint venture between Jordan Energy Resources Incorporated (JERI) and Areva said in a June report that the overall uranium potential on the licensed 70 square kilometre (27 square miles) area exceeds 20,000 tonnes.